All We Are
by ShyStars
Summary: Survival. That's what the world has come to; surviving. Nothing is left to chance or convenience anymore, there wasn't time to hope anyone would come to the rescue. Fairy Tales were over and never coming back. However, when Izzy's group meets another, surviving might just have got easier. Daryl/OC
1. Chapter 1

**All We Are:** Survival. That's what the world has come to; surviving. Nothing is left to chance or convenience anymore, there wasn't time to hope anyone would come to the rescue. Fairy Tales were over and never coming back. However, when Izzy's group meets another, surviving might just have got easier. Daryl/OC

**Disclaimers: **I do not own The Walking Dead; if I did...Daryl would never be allowed to die. Like never...no surprise plot elements or nothing. He'd live till he dies of old age.

**Rating: **Rated M. This is The Walking Dead...that should be enough of an explanation...

**Author's Note: **I story I've been working on, and thinking about since I started watching The Walking Dead and became obsessed with it. I've been reading a lot of stories already, especially about Daryl (I can see the appeal, sorry for adding another fan-girl to the ranks. Although, if he does die, which would suck, I would still watch the show. It's too good a show to quit watching just cause one character dies), and decided to try my hand at one. I hope I make this as original as it can be, but also sticking to the main story as much as possible. I also want to apologize if I spit the script back out, I know some people hate that, but when that scene appears in my story, I want characters to stay in character...which means they say what they already said. Not everything will be the same, I am adding my own stuff in, but I'm trying to keep to the show as much as my thoughts can allow (which is really well actually). So, sorry if that annoys you, its just that way I write these things.

Another thing, I'm not really sure how to write Daryl's accent. I wanted to write his accent out like it sounds...but I haven't found anything that would help me with that. I've read other fictions, and most of them have it written out, but I'd like to have something to go off of. So I might just end up writing it out like normal, y'all can imagine it write? I might live in MS, was born in MS, but I was raised in Las Vegas...I have a hard enough time figuring out what some are saying here without having to write it out in my own stories. So maybe some help? I don't want anyone to get angry because I don't write his accent, sexy as I find it, out.

So without further ado, here's chapter one~! (it's pretty...long).

I always seem to write with red-heads...oh well, I like the hair color.

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><p><span>Chapter One<span>

"Reporting from the Ambulance: all clear" A woman's voice spoke from the small, black and orange walkie-talkie, "Besides the now permanently dead S.O.B., there's quite a few useful things Izzy."

"Okay," A soft sigh escaped the pale, chapped lips of Izzy Byers, "Clear it out quickly. Head back to the truck after that, I don't like leaving those four alone."

"Roger" The static filled reply called before fading into silence once more, which caused Izzy to glance around her warily. Normally she wouldn't send those three out, or go by herself on a run, but when she had spotted the ambulance in one direction and a gas station about six hundred feet in the other direction, she had no other choice. They needed the food and gas from the station and the supplies that the ambulance might still hold, and they couldn't stay in the area too long. It was too close to the city for her and the others comfort. Izzy let another sigh escape her mouth before stealing herself against her nerves and moving forward once again, a pick-ax held tightly in her hands.

The gas station's door was open, meaning any one or any_ thing_ could get in, which is what she was worried about. She could handle three of four dead by herself, her pick-ax and two knives, one large bowie and a smaller hunting dagger, were useful, but she didn't have much ammo left for her guns, if anymore than that were found or showed up. It wouldn't be wise to use her guns anyway, sound attracted the S.O.B.s. So she hoped she only had to deal with a few of the monsters, if none at all. It would be way too convenient for that to happen though, and the world no longer ran on convenience or luck.

Izzy clicked on a flashlight, and shined it into the small store's doorway before easing her way inside, the flashlight gripped in her mouth so that it wouldn't get in the way. She paused once inside, knowing that whatever was inside, once it caught sight of the flashlight's glows and heard her, would make it's way towards her. She didn't want to go up and down the few isles in the dim lighting where anything could happen when she didn't know exactly what was in the store. She didn't have to wait long before she heard a gurgling, growling sound and the shuffling of dragging feet. She quickly turned her head left and right, flashing the light around the store so she could have a clearer view than an open door and few dirty windows allowed for. She immediately spotted two of the monsters limping towards her.

What at one time had been normal, probably happy and healthy, humans now stood the beings from movies, from nightmares, from the very pits of hell. A man with skin the color of death, a festering chalky white, and half his torso eaten away by monsters like him was making his way towards Izzy from behind the register. While a woman from within the farthest isle limped towards her with half her left calf eaten away, both her arms missing and her head hanging towards the side slightly from what appeared to be a huge chunk of her neck missing. "They really did a number on you, didn't they?" Izzy mumbled around her flashlight, hands tightening on the pick-ax as the two drew nearer, moving quicker at the prospect of spilling her blood for their hunger. They probably hadn't had many meals considering they were still in here after the city fell, people dying or fleeing after the bombings.

The woman, if you could even call her that anymore, reached Izzy first, which was to her advantage. Her black, rotting mouth opened in a chilling rasp, and no arms to try and reach out with their killing claws, one scratch from the S.O.B would kill Izzy just as effective as a bite would, helped the girl. Izzy wasted no time and swung her ax up fast. One of its sharp ends plunged easily up, threw the creatures chin, it's now useless brain and out the top of her skull. Izzy didn't flinch as some of the brain matter and blood splattered onto her arms and clothes, she was already filthy from other S.O.B.'s blood, dirt and sweat from having worn the same clothes for days and being unable to take a bath for the same amount of time. What was a little more going to hurt? She didn't stop the swing as the woman fell backwards, this time staying down and dead forever, and turned the pick-ax sideways, using its momentum to bash into the males temple as he came within reach of the weapon. The swing propelled the ax and her around until it stuck in the wall beside the entrance, the monster still attached in-between.

Izzy let a small breath out before she yanked the ax roughly from the wall and the creatures head with a sickening wet sound; the once walking dead falling to the ground with an echoing thud in the now once again silent store room. Izzy stood still, clutching the ax at the ready for several more minutes, waiting for more of the S.O.B.s' to come, and when she heard nothing she decided to more further into the store. She left her ax beside the door so she could grab it on her way out, it would be too big to use between the small isles without making too much noise. She would have to rely on her two knifes and smaller hand ax hanging from her belt to help her if she ran into anymore of the living dead.

Izzy took the flashlight from her mouth and held it with her right hand while her left hand hovered of her bowie knife strapped to her jean covered thigh in-case she needed to pull it out quickly. She walked down the middle isle, next to the farthest one away where the armless woman had emerged, figuring that if the woman had come from there and no other ones followed, who would have been closer, there shouldn't be many more. She was going to clear the store out first before she focused on filling the two duffel bags she carried along her back though, nothing was left to chance anymore. If she let her guard down in the world as it was now, her life would be over very quickly. And that couldn't happen, she had too many depending on her to die.

She didn't find any of the monsters on the middle isle and moved to clear the last one after a quick look down the one where the woman came from. She immediately spotted a half eaten, growling S.O.B in the middle of the isle, everything from the shoulder down was nothing but bones left. "Gross" Izzy murmured, drawing her knife and moving forward, "No wonder your sorry ass didn't follow after 'em, your stupid ass got your legs eaten like a dumb bastard." She quickly knelt and stabbed her knife right between it's glazed, silver clouded eyes, stopping it's movements and sounds for the last time. Once she cleared that isle she moved towards the back where there was a door, fortunately the small service station held no bathrooms for her to clear, and she was relieved to discover the door was chained and locked, meaning she didn't have to clear anymore out and could began working on what she had come into the store for.

Izzy went back down the isle she just came from, pulling a duffel bag around her torso and began stuffing the caned food that was left on the partly looted shelf in, she didn't care what kind of food it was, there was no luxury of being a picky eater with the way the world worked now. Once she had all the food and the bag was now almost filled with the caned goods, she moved over to the next isle where the mostly still intact junk-food was, mostly chips and candy bars. _At least some people have their priorities straight, Izzy_ thought as she stuffed handfuls of chocolate bars into the almost filled duffel bag and zipped it up and swing it back around her back while she pulled the second one around and began stuffing any kind of chips she could get her hands on it in. Junk-food might not be as good for them as the canned food would be, or even the meat she managed to catch in her traps overnight, but it would still sustain them when there was nothing else left. _Too bad, but good for us, that many people overlook how even junk-food can keep them from starving. _

She was just making her way into the final isle when She heard a shuffling behind her followed by a growl. Izzy didn't stop to think as she quickly pulled her large, bowie knife from its sheath and struck out behind her, turning quickly with a sharp gasp and thrust of the blade downward. Izzy watched through her blue eyes as the blade imbedded into the head of what once had been a young boy, but now stood with half of his mouth missing and most of one arm gone. She frowned as she jerked her knife from the top of the boys head, and watched him collapse to the ground like the others she had dealt with. Izzy stood there, breathing heavily for a few moments, the knife still clenched in her hands tightly as adrenaline pulsed wildly though her veins. She couldn't believe she hadn't noticed him sooner, it had almost gotten her if she hadn't felt the hair on the back of her neck rise up in alarm. "I better hurry the fuck up" Izzy murmured, stepping around the corpse as she moved towards the last isle where the scarce, over-the-counter medicine and hygiene products lay, having already been looted once before it seemed.

She grabbed everything she could, stuffing it inside the duffel bag, medicine was always welcome, no matter what kind as well as soap and more importantly, deodorant. "Thank god, I don't know how much more I could could stand of riding with Jay and his funk...though I probably don't smell like sunshine and daises my own fucking self." Her hand paused over the many boxes left behind of condoms "World's gone to shit and people still aren't playing it safe huh?" She threw some of them into the duffel bag as well, just to be safe, even though she knew she would never need them, didn't mean Jay or Emma wouldn't...they were pretty close despite the age difference.

With both duffel bags stuffed to a breaking point and hanging heavily from her back, Izzy made her way back towards the doorway, her blade never leaving her hand until she grabbed her pick-ax from where she had left it. She clicked off her flashlight as she stepped through the door, putting it into her pocket while grabbing the radio that was hooked to the waist of her jeans. "Reporting from the store: All clear" Izzy spoke into the mike, looking around the destroyed parking lot and highway between her and her truck, where she knew everyone was waiting for her to return inside, as she had told them to, "I'm heading back now, be ready to leave when I get there. I'm gonna check to see if there's any gas left in the surrounding cars on my way back."

"Roger that" A male voice spoke this time, Jay "Be careful Izzy. We'll have our eyes on you the whole time. Are you sure you don't want to me to come help?"

"I'm sure. Stay with the truck, trailer and the kids" Izzy replied, cutting of the transmission while hooking the radio back to her belt. She kept the pick-ax in one hand while picking up the red gas can from where she had left it next to one of the two gas-pumps the station had, where several cars lay mostly empty, some bodies still remained, only blood left on some, or some just abandoned. Izzy knew some of the stuff in the cars would probably be useful, but didn't try to loot them, she didn't wanna stay out in the open any longer than she needed to, she just needed to see if any of them had gas left in their tanks. A few did, and she had managed to cypher about half a can from three of the cars when she heard a familiar gurgling, rasping sound; only louder and multiplied by many.

"Izzy!" A static shout came from the walkie-talkie at her side, "Get out of there now! Back to the truck! Quickly!" Emma's, a young woman Izzy had picked up, shouted, "There's too many of them for you to handle! Over twenty! Move now! Hurry!"

Izzy quickly closed the gas can and shot off towards her, what at one time had been silver, dodge truck, not even bothering to look back behind her as she knew she didn't want to see just how many were coming towards her. She didn't make it very far before she was cut off by a small pack of the monsters cutting her off, coming from out of nowhere like they usually managed to do. "Run Izzy!" Sammy's voice, her younger brother who she had made stay behind, from the radio yelled, "Hurry!"

Izzy froze, shaking her head as she stared toward the truck knowing they'd be able to see her, as the creatures neared. She just raised her pick-ax getting ready to strike out at one that was getting to close when an unfamiliar voice called on the radio. "Go down the ally way, now!" She stuck one male in the head with the ax and brought her knife up ones chin coming up behind her before attacking more, keeping moving so none would get their hands or mouths on her. They were quickly surrounding her.

"Who the fuck are you?" Sammy's voice called, panic reaching Izzy's ears. "Run Izzy, get to the truck! We'll come help you!"

"We don't have time for this!" The male voice echoed again, "Run down the ally way, now! While the pathway is still clear or you'll die!" Izzy looked around her, smashing her knife into another S.O.B as they began to close in around her, there didn't seem to be any other way for her but to trust the mysterious guy telling her to go down the ally as her way back to the truck was now cut off. She rammed her pick-ax into a zombie that had managed to come up beside her, blocking her, before running down the ally, yanking the pick-ac out at the same time. "Close the gate behind you!" The male said to her as she turned around the corner down at the end of the ally, S.O.B.s on her tail, and passed a chain linked fence, its door open. She threw herself against in, dropping her pick-ax as she had to use her knife, stabbing and cutting the arms of the beasts that were in the way of closing the gate. Izzy yanked the blade from within a females eye socket before she finally managed to close and lock the gates all the way. She fell back against the wall, breathing heavily as she clutched her knife in a wary, blood-soaked hand. That had been too close for her comfort, and she wasn't out of the woods yet.

"Izzy! Are you okay?! Izzy!" Jay's and Emma's voices called and Izzy could hear her brother panicking in the background as well, along with the others.

"She's fine" The male voice spoke from the radio and from beside her, causing Izzy to jump quickly, knife raised in defense. Her green eyes locked onto the male before her; an Asian, though she couldn't tell what kind as she was never able to tell the difference, male stood in a now open doorway. Dark eyes staring at her from under the shadow of his baseball cap that hid his black hair well. She was relieved to put a face to her would-be-rescuer, even if she didn't know his intentions or why he was in the outskirts of Atlanta, S.O.B territory, when everyone was either dead, a monster or had run for the hills away from the city. "Come on, we have to move." He told Izzy, looking over her shoulder at the living dead pushing and snarling against the fence, there appeared to be about thirty or so, too many for them to handle and probably still growing, no matter how good the girl seemed to be with dealing with the monster. "We need to go while they're distracted here, c'mon!" He went back through the door he came from, the one she was leaning against moments before and had passed on her way to the gas station, and she followed after him, not seeing any other choice. She kept her knife in hand, just in case, for monsters and the man leading her in. Snatching her pick-ax on the way.

"Let's go! We have to make it over to the next building before more come and lose interest and scatter around again." Izzy followed him quickly up flights of stairs, moving at a face pace with the help of adrenaline.

"And then what?" She questioned, moving to grab her radio so she could tell her friends that she was fine before Jay and her brother Sammy did anything stupid, like trying to come after her with so many S.O.B.s out there and getting themselves killed.

"We go a couple of buildings down, then down a fire escape, then through another ally where we'll hit a small stretch of forest. We'll lose the geeks" He told her, breathing heavily as he opened a door leading to the roof of the building, "I'll take you back to camp."

""I'm not leaving my friends behind, they're still down there in my truck" Izzy told him, following after him as he went to the right towards the edge of the roof, the other building about five feet away, "Who the hell are you? Why did you help? What damn camp are you talking about?"

Izzy watched him sigh before he turned to face her, looking worried "I'm Glenn Rhee. I saved you because...because I would like to think that someone would help me if I was in that situation." He looked quickly over the side to see the walkers still trying to get in and past the fence, having not lost interest yet, "Camp...camp is where my group is. About fifteen miles out at a quarry, there's about twenty of us surviving there."

"Twenty? A group that big and you haven't been found by the S.O.B.s?" Izzy asked, surprised that there were so many survivors together and that they had actually set up a camp somewhere, her group was always moving because no where was safe before the monsters found them. "Why would you bring me there? I'm not going without everyone."

"Well, safety in numbers and its someplace safe for now," He answered, looking down nervously over the wall, the walkers were beginning to move around again, losing interest in their escaped meal as they they couldn't get through the fence "Look, tell your friends where to go, they have a map right?" At her nod he continued, "The quarry should be on there. They'll get there with your really huge truck, just tell them not to go straight there, wonder about, so they don't lead the walkers to camp. Will that help? We have to go now."

Izzy watched him for several more moments before nodding, bringing her radio up to her and mouth and pressing the side button so everyone in the truck could hear her. "I'm fine, calm down." She continued, cutting them off when they began asking questions all at once, her brother the loudest of them all, "Now's not the time. Glenn, the man who helped me, is going to get us out to safety at his camp. I want you to take the truck and meet me there. No protests. It should be on the map, its a quarry about fifteen miles out. We have enough gas, don't go straight there, the S.O.B will follow you and we don't want that to happen. Lead them around. I'll see you there. We have to go now."

"Are you sure Izzy? We can trust him?" Jay's voice asked, his tone serious for once.

Izzy looked into Glenn's anxious eyes, he was getting nervous about all the monsters beginning to move about again below, they had to leave.

"Yes, now go." Izzy nodded at Glenn, putting the radio back on her waist. "Okay, let's go."

"Throw your bags and stuff over or you won't make the jump" Glenn told her, having thrown his bags over already, "Then jump, its not as difficult as the distance seems" Izzy nodded, throwing both bags and her pick-ax over while Glenn stepped back, ran forward and jumped to the other building.

Izzy followed his lead, copying what Glenn had done by stepping back, and after she took a deep, calming breath hoping to settle her frazzled and adrenaline filled nervous, jumped. She hoped she'd make it.


	2. Chapter 2

**All We Are:** Survival. That's what the world has come to; surviving. Nothing is left to chance or convenience anymore, there wasn't time to hope anyone would come to the rescue. Fairy Tales were over and never coming back. However, when Izzy's group meets another, surviving might just have got easier. Daryl/OC

**Disclaimers: **I do not own The Walking Dead; if I did...Daryl would never be allowed to die. Like never...no surprise plot elements or nothing. He'd live till he dies of old age.

**Rating: **Rated M. This is The Walking Dead...that should be enough of an explanation...

**Author's Note: **Here's chapter two! I don't really have much to say here, other than I hope you like my characters and the next chapter~ Review!

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><p>Izzy grunted as she gave a hard jerk, the pick-ax swinging to the left and the corpses head being thrown away. Glenn gagged from beside her as the mutated head of what had been a woman slammed against the trunk of a tree, making a sickening wet, slurping noise as the dead brain matter flew around. "Do you have to do that?" Glenn croaked, leaning over from nausea as Izzy looked towards him, shrugging her flannel covered shoulders in a thoughtless manner, "That's the second time...ugh..."<p>

"Not my fault they seem to be more rotten than the others. I don't intentionally take their head off, you know" Izzy commented, pick-ax swinging from one hand now that the monster was dead, permanently. "Now which way are we headed?" She was unconcerned with whether he thought the way she handled killing the monsters was disgusting or not, she did what she had to do to survive, and if that meant using a little more force than necessary, so be it. "You said your car was just on the other side of the trees, on the train tracks?"

"Yeah, only about another hundred feet in that direction" Glenn spoke after several moments, having to gain control over his churning stomach before being able to speak again, using his hand and pointed to the right of where they had stopped to take out the lone geek that had been lurking in the small thicket of trees.

"Well let's go then," Izzy began moving in the direction her pointed, Glenn following close behind her, silently eying the small woman and the weapons she carried. Two large knifes strapped to each of her jean covered thighs, a small hand ax pushed through her belt, and Glenn had sworn he'd spotted two gun holsters peeking from inside the dirty black and red flannel she wore over an equally filthy white tank top. "I want to get back to my group as quickly as I can before they do anything stupid."

"You group...how many of them are there?" Izzy turned her head to eye Glenn warily as he caught up beside her, green eyes roaming over him, trying to figure out if she should trust him or not. He had helped her out of a tight bind, and her group was currently heading to meet his at his camp apparently, so why not? She could show him a little courtesy, despite how little the world cared for that now.

"Seven, including myself" Izzy answered, surprising Glenn. "Oh, and a dog."

"Seven? In one truck?" He asked surprised. He had seen Izzy's truck, and while he knew it to be huge, he didn't think it could hold that many people, "And a dog?"

"My brother and I, along with my two kids" She ignored his gasp as the fact that she spoke of having two kids. They might not have been hers by blood, as she had found them a few weeks after the world had gone to shit, but they were hers now and she be damned if anyone even began to think differently. Those were her kids. "An old nag and her granddaughter. A disgrace of a man," Izzy smirked to herself at her description of Jay. He would be pissed if he found out how she was introducing him to others, but would probably laugh it off with her after wards. That was the kind of man he was. "And our shitty guard dog."

"That's...that's a lot of people" Glenn spoke, unsure of how to respond to her description of her group, wondering if he was doing the right thing by inviting them back to camp. He already knew that Shane was going to flip at him bringing more people back to camp when they had a hard enough time feeding the people they had already. He just couldn't have left her there though, and he knew she wouldn't leave her people, especially with her brother and two kids. Hopefully the fact that she could apparently kick geek ass and handle herself would help matters.

"Not nearly as much as yours" Izzy commented, looking around the trees for any sign of danger before looking at the Asian walking beside her, an eyebrow raising in a questioning manner, "Around twenty? Y'all have to move around a lot not to get discovered by the S.O.B.s."

"S.O.B?"

"Sons of Bitches. Little ears you know?" Izzy shrugged again, "Calling them zombies is just too fairy tale, or even movie like. And this is a far cry from a fucking fairy tale or movie."

"Oh...oh, no we really don't move around. We've been at the quarry since Atlanta went up in well, flames you know?"

"Since they bombed Atlanta? Really? That must have been at least a month and a half ago. You've had no trouble up there?"

"None" Glenn stated, "There have been no walkers up at the quarry. Has is really been almost two months? It seems like its been longer..."

"Roughly. We don't keep track of the exact date, but it is nice to know how long the world has gone to hell, and how long it will stay that way. None, really? That is surprising," Izzy spoke, stopping as she and Glenn reached the tree line. She could see a small, beat up red car that had obviously seen better days with a- "Pizza Hut? Really?" She looked at the boy who really couldn't have been a couple of more years older than her brother with an incredulous look on her face. Glenn smiled in a sheepish manner in reply, shrugging his shoulders lightly. Izzy just sighed loudly, rolling her eyes.

She looked through the trees, standing in their shadows as she looked around for any sign of the roaming monsters, and seeing none, began making her way towards Glenn's car. "You are obviously driving, so lets go" She whispered towards Glenn, pick-ax held firmly in her hands as she looked around warily. It was just too quiet for her, and she never really grew comfortable anywhere. He quickly walked a head of her, looking around as she did, opening the back of his car and chucking his bags in, a back-pack and duffel bag. Izzy quickly followed his example once she reached the other side, choosing to keep the pick-ax with her as she settled in the passengers seat.

"Alright, here we go" Glenn muttered, turning the keys to his car and starting down the tracks. He turned around and led them to the highway, going down the opposite side of the road, as the roads leading out of Atlanta were blocked with abandoned and destroyed cars.

"So this camp," Izzy began, not liking the silence that had taken over, looking towards Glenn, "How likely are they to kill my group as soon as they drive up?"

"What? Kill?!"

"You'd be surprised at what people have resorted to" Izzy spoke, not liking to think of the others they had run into traveling along Georgia, it wasn't something she or anyone liked to think about. "Desperate times call for desperate measures. But seriously, they're not gonna get killed or hurt are they, cause that won't work out well for you...or anybody."

"No! No...We won't harm anybody. Shane's probably not going to be too happy I dragged more people back, but everyone...most everyone anyway, should be pretty welcoming...as long as you can pull your own."

"Well, we probably won't stay long. We never do" Izzy answered, shuffling in her seat slightly, "You don't have to worry about us pulling our weight though. You seen that trailer we're pulling?" She didn't know why she was telling him this, but for some reason she felt like she could trust the boy, "That's got food in it, non-perishables and such. What we don't got, I usually hunt for."

"Food? All of it? And you can hunt?" Glenn asked, a surprised tone in his voice "like squirrels?"

"Squirrels? Yeah those are easy to hunt, rabbit as well. That's what we've been living off of mostly, along with the occasional possum or coon," Izzy smiled, noting and finding amusement in Glenn wide eyes as he stared at her in shock. "Snakes and frogs are good to, but frogs are a pain in the ass to catch and snakes have too many bones. Of course deer would be nice, but they all but vanished it seems with these fuckers wondering around eating everything that moves. I'm just glad we haven't run into any bears, wolves, coyotes or bobcats yet. Not looking forward to that when it happens, though compared to whats happening now, they'll seem like flies to a flyswatter."

"So...you can hunt? Like actually hunt?" Izzy didn't know whether to be amused at his tone or offended, she just decided the throw him a smile anyway.

"Yep. It's really come in handy, let me tell you that" She took note of how he was amazed at the notion that she could hunt, and it made her curious, "Does no one know how to hunt in your group?" It wouldn't surprise her if they didn't, only she and her brother knew how to hunt and gut something, of course they were teaching the others when they could, but she knew many people in the old world (as there was no way the world could ever go back) didn't care for hunting. Why should they of have? They could have gone right down to the market and buy their meats already cut up all pretty, never having to hunt to just put food on the table. Completely different from Izzy's and Sammy's childhood.

"Well, there are two brothers...Daryl and Merle Dixon, and they hunt but...they don't really get along with the group" Glenn shifted, uncomfortable even talking about the two back woods hicks, "Merle's a druggy asshole who basically sits around camp while his brother Daryl, who is younger than him, goes out hunting everyday for everyone. He's only brought back Squirrels and rabbits though. Do...do you actually eat Racoons?"

"Yeah, they're good eating, it you know how to gut and cook them right that is. Don't get all the necessary glands out and they taste like the shit they eat. Well, that's one way we can earn our keep." Izzy replied, staring out of the side window as they exited off the highway and began up a dirt road path, "It can't be easy hunting for twenty people by yourself. I can help this Daryl out."

"That's...Daryl doesn't really interact with anyone at camp. He's just as bad as his brother, but more quiet. He doesn't like help, and probably won't accept it from you since you're, well..." Glenn trailed off, throwing her a look as he turned around a bend. A cloud of dirt was forming up behind them as they climbed higher on the road on the way to the quarry, they weren't far away now.

"A woman? Ha! Like that's ever stopped me before," Izzy laughed slightly, a smirk forming on her chapped lips, "And if he or anyone else at this camp tries to pull that bullshit with me, I'm show them what a real woman can go. Ha!"

"That's...that's cool" Glenn didn't doubt she would, a smile forming on his mouth as an image of the big and brawny (as well as dirty and sweaty) Merle Dixon being told off by the little woman, who couldn't have been more than five feet tall, sitting beside him, "But, probably not a very good idea. Not a good idea at all. Merle's huge, and his brother isn't much smaller."

"I've dealt with worse" Glenn looked at Izzy quickly once again, surprised at the hard tone and look now fixed upon her face, "No man will, or can ever scare me again. I won't allow it," Izzy swore, forgetting Glenn was there for a moment until she noticed the weird look he was throwing her, forcing herself to grin and joke slightly, trying to ease the sudden tension, "Especially not with the things walking around. I'll leave my fear for them, cause after that...with the dead rising and walking about? There really isn't much left to fear, is there?" She threw another smirk at him, "Unless you, you know...got an egg of Godzilla hidden somewhere that your just waiting to hatch? I wouldn't put it past you Asians..."

That got Glenn to release a laugh, shaking his head. That was a new one to him, but he knew she didn't mean it to be offensive, not like the Dixon's did when they made racist comments. Though, it was mostly Merle, as Daryl didn't talk much. "Awesome, that's a new one," Glenn commented, a dryness to his slightly amused tone, throwing Izzy a light, somewhat playful glare to which she responded with a full laugh. Startling Glenn, who up unto that point, had only heard several forced, dry chuckles. She had a nice laugh, a little breathy and rough, but better than the shallow chortles she was giving out earlier. However, all conversation and laughter came to a stop when Glenn rounded the last curve and both spotted his groups camp sight up on the way.

Izzy spotted her truck right off; a huge, four door, 2008 Dodge Ram with a red camper shell, that she had taken from a similar truck, that was pulling a small U-haul trailer (that she had also stolen). It had been a beautiful, shiny silver before the world ended, but now it was covered in so much dirt and dust, even some blood, that is looked almost tan or brown in color. She loved her truck, taking spare parts, tires, bolts, batteries and cables, from any truck that was was like hers she found so that it would keep running, all of which she stored in the trailer. Not only was it good for hauling everything they had with them, is made for a good shelter. The tailgate was covered with the shell, and good protection at night. All the adults took turns sleeping in the back and the front, while the kids always slept in the back.

What she didn't spot was any of her group, her brother, kids and friends, waiting for them by the truck, nor did she see them as part of the group that was standing around. Her eyes immediately spotted how the women, most of them anyway, of the camp were hanging back around a dirty Winnebago R.V that had seen better days, while several men were stationed around the truck and another few in a small group talking with each other. That led Izzy to believe that her group was still in the truck, and had been for the hour it had taken them to get out of the building, to Glenn's car and to travel to the camp.

" Well, this looks like a friendly welcome" Izzy remarked sarcastically, throwing Glenn a look who could only respond by giving Izzy a nervous smile and shrug. She didn't wait for him to turn off the car or step out first when he parked, and got out of the car first. She held her pick-ax in one hand, her left as that was her dominate, loosely, watching as several of the men began making their way from the front of her truck to her and Glenn. She immediately noticed who was the leader, by the way he held himself. A big, muscled man (not the biggest she's seen though) with dark, curly hair that hung somewhat is his equally dark eyes. Izzy thought that he might have been an attractive man at some point, despite his kind of huge nose, if she hadn't had spotted the words on his shirt: King's County Sheriffs Department. He was a cop, or had been one at a time. The words on his shirt, and the way he held himself was enough to put Izzy on edge. She didn't like nor trust cops, even before the world stopped.

Her eyes traveled, almost unwillingly as she didn't want to take her eyes off the cop for fear he would try something as he was holding a shot gun in his arms, to the man walking up beside him. He was older than she was, probably around the age of fifty or so, with a light gray beard and hair covered by a silly looking hat. He wore a ridiculous looking shirt unbuttoned over a white shirt and a pair of shorts. Like he was on a vacation or something. He was smiling at her in a tentative manner while the other man was eying her with a slight frown on his face. However, before either one of them, or anyone else in the group, could talk, the back door of Izzy's truck was thrown open and a little body came flying out. Multiple voices from within trying to stop and call them back, none of them registering to the small child's mind.

"Izzy!" Izzy immediately dropped down to scoop the small child, a little girl, into her arms. She fought the slight moisture in her eyes at the relief that it was to see her, that everyone she loved was okay. It was gone before anyone could even notice it. Izzy set the pick-ax down, knowing it wouldn't even be a threat with the guy's shot gun, and picked the girl up in her arms as she stood up straight again. "Izzy! You're okay!" The high pitched, almost bell like to Izzy's ears, voice of the girl spoke.

Izzy pulled back, choosing to ignore the group of strangers as her main focus was on her little girl; Hope. "I'm okay baby girl," She told the child, reaching a dirty hand up to gently tug on one of the girl's curly, dirty-blond pig-tails. She smiled, always unable to resist the uplifting of her lips in the presence of the girl on most occasions, down into her pretty light blue eyes. "It was a close call, but you know how I am. A few S. ain't gonna stop me from getting back to you and everyone else. Imagine the mayhem you and your brother, and my brother would cause!"

"Haha, right! Super Izzy!" Hope agreed, tightening her arms around Izzy's neck in a fierce hug, light laughter ringing from her small mouth.

"Now," Izzy gave the girl a stern look, pulling away from her once again so she could look down at her, "What did I and everyone tell you about leaving the truck?" Izzy ignored the small pout that formed on the child's lips, Hope was adorable and sweet, but Izzy wouldn't let anything stand between her safety, not even a trembling lip and fat tears. "Well?"

"Not to leave unless I'm accompanied by an adult and the areas been secured and cleared" Hope muttered, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms in a huff the only way a toddler could. "But Izzy, these men wouldn't let us out of the truck until you and the boy who helped you show up! It's not even nighttime yet! I don't wanna be stuck in that truck no more! Sammy and Jay are stinky!"

"Sorry Izzy" She looked up from Hope, noticing how everyone was beginning to exit the truck now that she was here and Hope had decided to barge out. Jay was making his way towards her, throwing the two closest men and everyone else at the camp a weary smile, nodding at them in a greeting and apologetic way. He knew they hadn't wanted them to leave the truck until some answers from Izzy were given. Jay Hawkins was a big bear of a man, easily towering over Izzy and nearly everyone he met at around six feet and four inches (Izzy had found a tape measure and actually measured him a one point, much to his amusement) with a curly head of brown hair and a scattered beard that was beginning to form with signs of gray despite his relatively young age and appearance at thirty eight. His gray eyes were shining with relief at seeing her safe and unharmed. "She left before any of us could grab a hold of her."

"Oh my god! Izzy!" Before the small woman could reply to Jay, her brother had come running from around the other side of the truck and launched himself around his older sister, gathering both her and Hope, because she was still in Izzy's arms, into a relieved hug. Samuel, better known as Sammy, Byers was easily taller than his sister, practically everyone was actually, at a normal height of five feet and eleven inches. He had inherited the same green eyes Izzy possessed from their mother, that were being somewhat covered by his equally messy and curly red hair that was a shade of two lighters than Izzy's that hung only a couple inches in length from the root. "You're okay!"

"I'm fine Sammy, as you can see" Izzy spoke, giving her brother an equal response to his embrace, being mindful of Hope between them, relieved to see he was alright as well.

"Thank goodness for that" Izzy rolled her eyes, an exasperated smile forming on her mouth when she heard Emily's voice call out, "What we would we do without your pungent wit and audacious bravery child?" Emily Williams was a sixty-three year old woman who probably was a bombshell in her prime, but had aged considerably in the recent years. Her long, pin-straight blond hair that was now more gray than blond, was always pulled back into a pun at the base of her neck, pulled out of her warm brown eyes that could see right through you and held nothing back. She was a thin, willowy woman at five feet and seven inches and reminded Izzy of one of the rich, proper ladies you would only see in movies. And while she acted like that on most occasions, prissy and proper, Emily Williams took no shit from anyone, and had no problem with putting someone in their place. She was a true born southern-belle.

"Grandma!" Emma, Emily's granddaughter sighed, shaking her head at her grandmother, still confused by Izzy's and hers relationship. They seemed to hate each other, but yet didn't at the same time. Emma was definitely Emily's granddaughter, just based on looks alone, with only a few differences. Emma stood at a shocking five feet and ten inches, something Izzy envied about the younger girl, at the age of twenty with the same willowy frame like her grandmother. She had the same pin straight, blond hair as her grandmother that fell to the middle of her back that she always wore pulled back in either a braid or ponytail, to keep from hanging into her wide, hazel eyes and from getting in the way. "Good to have you safe Izzy," Emma spoke out, sending a smile to the older woman, the leader of their small group. She would have given her a hug, but didn't think there was any room with Izzy still holding Hope and her brother now wrapped around her shoulders, so instead chose to stand beside Jay's side. "Please don't do anything stupid like that again though, okay?"

"Right, like I intentionally got cut off from you all by S.O.B," Izzy sighed sarcastically, causing Emma to smirk at her. However, any further statements passing between the two was interrupted by the last member of their group, well, the last two.

"No, Piper! You can't go out yet! You're too big! You'll scare the little pus-"

Izzy sighed, shaking her head and placing Hope into her brothers arms, and called out before the sentence could be complete, "What was that I was about to hear out of your mouth, Zack?"

"Ah, Izzy! You know I don't mean nothin' by it" Zack, Hope's older brother by seven years, called coming from the truck with Piper pulling him as he had a hold of her collar. He was an average height for his age, with short dirty blonde hair that was starting to turn brown in color, with the same blue eyes as his sister. And a sailors mouth to match Izzy's, something she was refusing to allow him to get away with. "'Sides, you ain't got no better mouth than me."

"There's a difference, I'm an adult, you are a little brat" Izzy remarked, "And I've already told you; I don't wanna hear that kind of trash come out of your mouth. Am I clear?"

"But Izzy-" Izzy gave him a stern look, to which he sighed at, "Yes ma'am."

"Good," Izzy spoke, turning around to face the group of strangers that were looking at her and her group curiously, the dark haired man wearing the police t-shirt eying her group with suspicion more than anything else, while everyone else seemed to be mostly curious, some even appearing amused by the talk amongst them. "Now I think some introduction and explanations are needed, I'm sure." Izzy started, tired of being stared at, and still wondering how she had become the leader of her group.

"That's a good idea" The dark haired man started, moving forward slightly, his shot gun (the only gun Izzy could see around camp, and she didn't know if that was a good thing or not) over one shoulder while his other hand was on his hip, "A very good idea. Some explanations are definitely needed. Glenn." He directed his dark gaze, a serious look on his face, as he turned to his head to look at the young Asian kid that had saved and brought the woman and her group to camp. Glenn shifted nervously from his side of the car, looking from Shane to Izzy and back several times.

"Well, you see-"

"See, Godzilla here, helped me out of a very tight situation involving multiple S.O.B.s that cut me off from my truck" Izzy started, adding humor into the explanation in the hopes of getting the cop to unwind somewhat, not that it worked. He just directed his gaze back to her instead of Glenn. "I was clearing a convenience store on the edge of town, taking gas and such, when heading back to my truck, where everyone else was, and a few had just returned to, when I was cut off by a small herd" Izzy decided to explain in detail, not wanting to repeat it after this, also wanting him to look somewhere else, his dark eyes were bugging her...they reminded her too much of another's. "Glenn here, contacted me through the walkie-talkies my group uses and helped me get away while directing my group here, where we come full circle."

"You should have seen her kick walker ass Shane" Glenn cut in, moving to stand beside the older man, a nervous smile on his face. "She managed to take off two of their heads just with a swing of her pickaxe. It was awesome!"

"Too bad you didn't think so at the time, still feeling sick there?" Izzy joked, not knowing if she liked being praised for being able to kill the dead easily or not, killing shouldn't be a good thing.

However much it was necessary now.


	3. Chapter 3

**All We Are:** Survival. That's what the world has come to; surviving. Nothing is left to chance or convenience anymore, there wasn't time to hope anyone would come to the rescue. Fairy Tales were over and never coming back. However, when Izzy's group meets another, surviving might just have got easier. Daryl/OC

**Disclaimers: **I do not own The Walking Dead; if I did...Daryl would never be allowed to die. Like never...no surprise plot elements or nothing. He'd live till he dies of old age.

**Rating: **Rated M. This is The Walking Dead...that should be enough of an explanation...

**Author's Note:** Here's chapter three! I don't really have much to say here, other than I hope you like my characters and the next chapter~ Review!

* * *

><p>"I like it here Izzy, can we stay?" Izzy looked over at Hope who her brother had just sat down to stand beside him, she was looking at the other children she could see hanging around the quarry from where the whole group currently stood, "There are other kids here!"<p>

"Baby girl..." Izzy began, not knowing what to tell her girl, "That's not really up to us, they have to let us stay, and we have to want to."

"But we want to...don't we?" Hope asked in her innocent way, still not not understanding the way interactions between adults and emotions fully; if you liked someone, you liked them right?

"Its more complicated than that," Izzy's brother decided to speak, smiling down at the girl that had become his family as much as Izzy's and the others around him, taking her small hand in his. "This does seem like a nice place though," This was directed at Izzy, letting her know what he thought of the place they had been driven to.

"That it does" Izzy agreed, letting a small, slightly uncomfortable smile come to her face as she knew Glenn was a nice person (who actually tried to save someone these days? Well, besides her dumb self, but then things hadn't been as bad then...) however, there was no guarantee that the others of the small camp at the top of this quarry were as good as her new young Asian friend. "But we don't know them and they don't know us baby girl. While we might want to stay here, they might not want us to" Izzy tried to reason with the girl, the dark haired man leaving her thoughts as she tried get the little girl to see some reason, not wanting to upset her later on.

"But they want us to, don't they?" Hope turned her large blue eyes back on the strangers before her, the innocence of her age not understanding clearly, focusing her glittering gaze (which Izzy still found amazing in the current darkness) on the dark haired man, then the old man, and then the others gathered slightly behind him, focusing on the long, wavy haired woman who had come forward to step behind the boss man. "Don't you?"

"Oh honey, of course, we just need-" The woman was cut off by the dark haired man, his voice still serious, but there was a small, almost unnoticeable smile on his face now. Hope had that affect on people.

"But first we need some answers. You see, we just can't let you come strolling here with nothing but Glenn's good intentions and let you stay," He spoke, drawing Izzy's attention back to him, along with everyone else. Izzy nodded stiffly, knowing she wasn't going to like this man, just by the way he spoke and held himself.

"Introductions are needed first, I should believe," Emily spoke from her standing position next to her granddaughter. Her thin, but surprisingly strong, arms were crossed across her chest which was covered by a simple blouse, as airy as could be, that somehow managed to draw sophistication to the woman despite how dirty they all were. The knife hooked into her belt ruined the image of upper class society, but Izzy knew the woman with delicate, almost brittle hands, could handle the blade just as good as any male. "Of us, at the very least, as I don't see how you could require us to recall the amount you have here in one sitting. So I shall start us off; I am Emily Williams and this is my granddaughter, Emma Williams." Emma nodded, offering a smile at the group, unsure of what to think at the moment.

"I'm Jaylen" Jay offered them all a grin, as was normal as a smile was hardly off his bear-like form, "Most just call me Jay though."

Sammy decided to go next, introducing himself and the two kids of their group as well. "I'm Sammy and these brats," He tugged at Hope's hand causing her to giggle slightly, "Are Hope and Zack. Oh, and of course Piper" In response the dog Zack still held by the collar gave an answering yip, tongue hanging out of her mouth as she panted loudly in excitement at all the new people with normal scents and sensing no danger and so the need to be silent was no where in her normal demeanor.

"And I'm Izzy" Izzy spoke last, directing all attention back to herself so she could explain things, "Like I stated earlier, Glenn helped me out when I was cut off from the monsters, and because my group was still in my truck, he told them where they could go, here, while we headed off to his car." She didn't know what more she needed to explain.

"Yeah, we get that. What we don't get, is why you were by yourself in the city with them separated from you" Shane spoke, nodding Izzy's family around her.

"Well, the kids, Sammy, and Emily stay in the car, always, and Jay and Emma were getting supplies from a crashed Ambulance," Izzy revealed, "and we were only in the edge of the city. We're not crazy enough to actually go into the city with all these crazy bastards roaming around looking for anything that moves to eat. I decided to go alone as I work faster by myself, it wasn't nothing I hadn't done before. And of course, like the S.O.B.s have a way of doing, they all appeared from nowhere ready to gnaw on my flesh. Glenn really helped me out."

"Yeah, Glenn the hero is always bringing others back to camp" Shane commented, throwing Glenn a look who smiled sheepishly, shrugging from his spot beside the old man, "But that's a problem, you see, we already have quite a group here. And its already hard enough to feed everyone as it is, without adding so many more hungry mouths, let along a _dog_ to the mix, so I don't-"

"Now hold up" Izzy put a stop to him before he could continue, not caring about the squinting look his face transformed into, "We can feed ourselves and probably even help y'all out some. You see that trailer my truck is pulling? We've raided just about every store and home we've come in contact with that we felt was safe enough too, and its got a whole bunch on goods in there."

"It's filled with food?" The woman asked, surprise in her voice. Izzy noted how the others of the camp, were looking at the trailer in wonder, shock and smiles coming through, "All of it?"

"Well, about half and half" Izzy spoke, "I have spare parts for my truck in the other half, but since its a five feet by eight feet, there's enough to last us a while when used sparingly."

"Not to mention you and Sammy also hunt" Emma added, wanting to let the people around them know what they had to offer in-case they did decide to stay. She was looking around the camp and was liking what she was seeing so far.

"Yeah, Izzy's got a couple of rabbits all ready for dinner in the back" Sammy remembered, having woken up to his sister coming through the woods they had parked next too the night before with three fat rabbits attached to her belt. She had gone out again on her own while he slept and someone else, Emily as it was her turn, was on watch. He had been pissed at her for going off on her own again, no matter how much she preferred it when hunting.

"That's great" The woman spoke, a smile of almost disbelief forming on her face, "Oh, I'm Lori and this is Shane" Izzy tried to offer them a smile in return but knew it came out as more of a grimace instead as the tall, skinny, brown haired woman introduced herself and the dark-haired leader.

"You can hunt?" Shane asked, looking at Izzy with surprise, which she wanted to scoff at. Another typical man.

"Yeah, I've been in the woods probably more than I have a house my whole life, along with Sammy. Had to eat, didn't we?" Izzy replied, fingers itching to get her compound bow from the truck and show the man just how well she could hunt by shooting an arrow at his ass. A compound bow was good for hunting, especially now when firing a gun could lead the dead straight to you, and while it could shoot the dead from far away, it wasn't made for close combat as it took too much time to drawl an arrow and aim so she had left it in the truck earlier. Most other times she kept in on her, she just didn't want it dragging her down. She couldn't wait until she could find a crossbow somewhere, it would be heavier, but at least she could already have an arrow docked for quick access and kills. "From what Glenn told me, Sammy and I could be useful. And from what I've seen, we will be. Y'all have a lot of people here to feed, and just two hunters? That can't be easy."

Izzy wasn't sure why she was trying so hard to convince these people they could be useful. Maybe it was the fact that she hadn't seen so many humans, alive that is, in so long, or that everyone else in her group seemed to want to stay at the quarry, but she was actually trying to win them over. But she could see all these people looking at her trailer with smiles and slight hope, even the kids, and it made her want to stay. At least for a little bit. "We can help."

"Shane" The brown haired woman said, looking at the male Izzy was currently having a stare down with, causing the man to break the contact and look at her. They seemed to have a silent conversation, before he sighed and ran a hand through his sweaty, curly hair.

"I don't really see a reason for why not. We sure could use the help," Shane agreed, letting his stance relax as he offered Izzy's group a smile. "Y'all can stay, if that's what you want."

Izzy looked at her group members, who were all crowed around her. Her brother and Emma giving her smiles while Jay offered her a grin as he settled an arm around Emma's shoulders. Emily just stared at Izzy, her blank face conveying more to the red haired girl than she revealed. Zack was nodding, looking around the strangers wearily as he struggled to keep a hold of Piper. At last she looked down at Hope, who was grinning up at her excitedly, cheeks turning pink and eyes shinning. She couldn't help but return the look with a smile. The little girl was something else, especially at a times like these.

Izzy had her answer, despite the fact that the man before her made her uncomfortable and she didn't know a single person at this camp nor their intentions, her group wanted to stay, to try here. So would she, she had to protect them.

"We do."


End file.
